My father, the songwriter Carl Sigman, was a rational man and his anti-rock screeds had their own internal logic: "It's noise," therefore "it's not music." Ipso facto, "they should call it something else." QED.

Jerry Leiber was not only a superb songwriter and producer but also an extremely funny, droll wit of the highest order. I had the honor to know him a little and his humor and his generosity of spirit were exemplary and uplifting.

After seeing some of Gov. Jan Brewer's mind-blowing meltdown performance during her debate with Terry Goddard, here's a playlist for a woman who lost her head, and a state that seems bent on doing the same.